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1. Printed Paper Solar Cells
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2. Japan Turns to Adult Diapers for Fuel
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3. NASA's Robot Diver is Fueled by Ocean Temps
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4. Solar Aero's Bladeless Wind Turbine
Printed Paper Solar Cells
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Solar panel materials are getting thinner and thinner. Now, MIT researchers have announced a method for printing solar cell material on paper.
The efficiency of this method is far lower than other kinds of solar cells. The paper solar cells have an efficiency of around 1.5-2%, while commercial silicon wafer solar panels are generally around the 15-20% efficiency range. However, the scientists point out that this is still a reserach technology and is years from commercialization.
Even if the efficiency does not improve dramatically, it may be possible that cheap and abundant solar collecting materials provide a better and more cost-effective way of getting power, especially for portable electronic devices.
The relative effect of the chemicals and processes used in system may also be an issue. If there are less harmful materials used in a printed solar cell technology, the benefits that offers may also outweigh the relative efficiency gap as compared with the more toxic option.
via: Inhabitat and CNET
Japan Turns to Adult Diapers for Fuel
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Japan's population is getting older. Their birth rate has declined, and with that, a drop in production of baby diapers. But conversely, the production of adult diapers has risen seven percent in just two years, hitting 5 billion units last year. Leave it to Japan to turn an increase in adult diaper waste into a great fuel making opportunity.
Enter Japanese company Super Faiths who has created their SFD Recycle System machine that automatically shreds, dries and sterilizes dirty diapers from hospitals and nursing homes, and turns them into fuel pellets. These bacteria-free pellets can then be used in biomass boilers and stoves for home or water heating.
Unlike the diaper-recycling plants that exist in Europe, these machines can be installed directly at the source. A hospital in Tokyo has two machines that process a total of 1,400 pounds of disposable diapers a day. It takes a day for the diapers to become fuel material.
Super Faiths has three different sized models that can process from 330 to 1,102 pounds of diapers a day.
via CNET
NASA's Robot Diver is Fueled by Ocean Temps
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NASA's newest robot can dive and swim for indefinite periods of time because it's powered by an unlimited resource: the ocean's temperatures. The robotic buoy utilizes thermal energy each time it moves from cold deep waters to warm surface waters.
The SOLO-TREC diver has been taking 500-meter dives off the coast of Hawaii collecting information on ocean salinity and currents since last November. The robot makes three trips a day, constantly recharging itself.
The robot is outfitted with tubes of oil. Those tubes are surrounded by a compartment filled with wax that liquifies once the robot hits warm waters. The liquified wax expands, which squeezes the oil from the tubes into the interior of the buoy it's stored at high pressure. The oil is then released, which drives the generator and charges the batteries.
This process produces about 1.6 Wh, which fuels the buoy's functions like water intake and expulsion, a GPS receiver, and its sensors and transmitters.
NASA plans to create a whole fleet of these robot buoys that will monitor various ocean conditions. The next step will be to develop similar devices that would never require a battery change.
via New Scientist
Solar Aero's Bladeless Wind Turbine
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A research company in New Hampshire recently announced the patent of their bladeless wind turbine, which is based on a patent issued to Nikola Tesla in 1913. The Fuller Wind Turbine developed by Solar Aero has only one rotating part, the turbine-driveshaft. The entire assembly is contained inside a housing, so that this turbine offers several advantages versus blade-style (primarily horizontal-axis type) turbines. With a screened inlet and outlet, this turbine does not present a danger to wildlife such as bats and birds. To an outside observer, the only movement visible is the entire turbine housing as it adjusts to track the wind. This also makes it a good candidate for use near military surveillance and radar installations, where moving blades would otherwise cause difficulties.
According to the company, the turbine is expected to deliver power at a cost comparable to coal-fired power plants. Total operating costs over the lifetime of the unit are expected to be about $0.12/kWh. The turbine also should have fewer maintenance requirements, leading to lower lifetime operating costs. The turbine itself can also be supported on magnetic bearings, and all of the generating equipment kept at ground level, which will also make maintenance easier. The company estimates "final costs will be about $1.50/watt rated output, or roughly 2/3 the cost of comparable bladed units."
The Tesla turbine operates using the viscous flow of a fluid to move the turbine and thereby produce energy. The Tesla turbine "consists of a set of smooth disks, with nozzles applying a moving gas to the edge of the disk. The gases drag on the disk by means of viscosity and the adhesion of the surface layer of the gas. As the gas slows and adds energy to the disks, it spirals in to the center exhaust. Since the rotor has no projections, it is very sturdy." Disks in the turbine need to be closely spaced in order to capture the viscous flow,. In order to be effective, the Tesla turbine also needs to have extremely thin disks to minimize turbulence at the edges. Tesla was not able to find metals of sufficient quality to make this work effectively, but apparently, nearly a century later, those limitations have been overcome.
Solar Aero's current example is an unassuming trailer-mounted unit, but a unit the size of the one pictured (see website) "should be capable of 10kW output with no problem," according to the inventor. The number of disks determines the amount of power that can be produced. It will be interesting to see if this technology takes off, and if the technology is something that can be scaled up to provide utility level power production, or if it is only a niche system. In any case, it is interesting to see alternatives to bladed wind turbines.
Link: Solar Aero
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